I have been writing my blog for the past 2 ½ years, and I have been blown away by the amazing support that I received from the PropTech community. Earlier this year, we crossed the 6,000 subscriber mark, and I would love to double that number in the next 12 months. My goal from the beginning has always been to publish 1 article per week, but my work schedule has become so crazy over the past few months that I have failed to write any new content since mid-May. The upside is that we (at my day job at Kastle) have been growing at breakneck speeds, which has been fueled by new product launches such as our NFC/Apple Wallet enabled platform, our Curb-to-Couch multifamily platform, our Smart Building Business Intelligence solution, and dozens of integrations with other leading PropTech companies. As the industry demands fully integrated offerings and the level of complexity for projects increases, we have found that our managed service offering is exactly what clients are looking for. They need solutions that keep their properties and their people (staff, tenants, visitors) safe & secure, that provide game changing improvements to tenant & resident experiences & conveniences, all while improving NOI in what has become one of the most challenging time periods in the history of the real estate industry. The downside is that I failed to deliver on my commitment to my loyal subscribers by not providing insights and updates on the real estate industry. But that is going to change.
Although my work schedule doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon (which is a good thing), I have recommitted myself to getting back on track with publishing a new article every week. There has been so much change in the PropTech industry over the past few months, and there are many topics that I am excited to cover. My regular publishing schedule will begin again next week, but I wanted to try something different this week.
One question that I get asked often from my subscribers is what other publications I read and which industry experts I follow religiously. As PropTech became mainstream over the past few years, there have been many great thought leaders in the space that all have unique perspectives on the future of Real Estate technology. In addition to Real Estate specific thought leaders that I follow, there are also amazing content providers that are not PropTech specific, but the lessons that they share can be applied to most industries. The non-PropTech content that I find most interesting includes topics such as GTM strategies, Business Development, Marketing Automation, AI, RevOps, and Data Analytics.
I compiled a list below of the thought leaders and newsletters that continue to influence and educate me. I’m sure that many of my subscribers already follow some of these leaders, but if you are not already familiar with them, I highly recommend checking them out. As I have stated in the past, I do not monetize my blog, so none of the folks below have sponsored this article or paid for any promotion. Truthfully, I do not know all of the people on the list personally, so this is unbiased and based solely on the value that I have enjoyed from their content.
Flex/CoWorking
Flexible Real Estate and CoWorking has gone mainstream and is now part of the discussion for occupiers of all sizes. Property owners are also trying to navigate this growing sector as they decide whether to partner with flex operators, deploy their own in-house flex brand, or sit on the sidelines a little longer before placing any bets. And while flex continues to grow in popularity and market share, the imminent threat of a WeWork bankruptcy is only making things more complicated. Luckily, there is a newsletter which tracks the most important updates in the market, and it is authored by Hector Kolonas. If you are interested in staying up to speed with the Flex sector, you do not want to miss Hector’s This Week in Coworking update. Subscribe for free using this link.
Residential Real Estate
When it comes to beautifully written articles on residential real estate, packed with data driven analysis, and well designed infographics, nobody does it better than Mike DelPrete. If you are in the real estate industry and you are not reading Mike’s content, then you aren’t getting the full picture. Check out his content here.
Another expert in the real estate industry is NotoriousRob, and his Real Estate blog was the first one that I ever read back in 2010. His articles are always well written, he goes deep on every topic that he covers, and he adds in some humor which makes his writing extremely enjoyable to read. If you don’t read his blog today, I recommend checking him out on Substack here.
Venture Capital
The VC world has faced challenging times of late, but there is no better way to keep a pulse on the emerging trends in the industry than by following the companies that are making big bets on early stage companies. I never miss content published on the blogs of FifthWall, Metaprop, and literally anything written by Spencer Rascoff.
Commercial Real Estate
There are many amazing content creators in the Commercial Real Estate space, but my all time favorite person to follow is Michael Beckerman. He and his company CREtech cover the entire spectrum of CRE, but they focus a significant amount of resources on one of the most important subjects that affects every person on this planet – ClimateTech. In addition to publishing valuable content that I follow religiously (linked here), CREtech also hosts a series of conferences where just about everyone in the industry attends. Their biggest event of the year CREtech NYC is taking place September 19-21 at the Javits Center. You can register for this event here. Besides for his wealth of knowledge, his best-in-class content, and hosting the most important CRE events each year, Michael is one of the nicest people I have ever met, and this is a sentiment that everyone who meets him agrees with.
RevOps / Scaling SaaS
Last year I co-wrote an article with Henry Mizel which can be found here. I worked with Henry at a PropTech startup for several years, and he was the one that introduced me to the value of RevOps for scaling a SaaS business. Henry now leads Revenue for Apollo.io (which closed a $100M Series D last week at a valuation of $1.65B), and he has been posting some really valuable content on LinkedIn. As I continued to learn everything that I possibly can about scaling a SaaS company, I came across a newsletter which has become the bible for me. The newsletter is named SaaStr and it is authored by Jason Lemkin. I do not know Jason personally, and he probably has zero clue who I am, but he has yet to publish an article where I haven’t been able to put at least one of his ideas into action. You can subscribe here for free, and I can promise you that you do not want to miss it.
Business Strategy
When I look back at my career, I realize how fortunate I am to have crossed paths with some amazingly talented people. One of the people that I got to work next to every day for several years is Packy McCormick. I almost feel silly recommending Packy’s newsletter Not Boring since I rarely come across a business professional that isn’t already a subscriber of his. The downside of his newsletter is that after I read an article that he publishes, I immediately feel unworthy of publishing my own. His writing is intelligent, witty, and always right on the money. If you are one of the few people on this planet not already subscribed to Packy’s Not Boring newsletter, do yourself a favor and subscribe for free now. Here is the link.
Another blogger that I love to follow is Marie Forleo. I relate to Marie’s entrepreneurial journey which provides creative (but practical) advice for scaling a business geared towards folks like me that do not have an MBA from an Ivy League school (I don’t actually have an MBA from any school) or access to capital from deep pocketed family members. In addition to her blog, Marie hosts a podcast where she interviews some of the most admired business leaders in the world. I also love the fact that she is a native Jersey girl. I was born and raised in New Jersey, and our state gets plenty of grief and bad press, so I love seeing big success coming out of New Jersey. Check out her blog here.
Product / Growth
In the tech industry, Product leaders play a critical role in the success (or failure) of a company. By far, the best newsletter that I have come across in this space is Lenny’s Newsletter. In addition to his Newsletter, Lenny also has a podcast where he interviews Product and Growth leaders from some of the most exciting companies on the planet. Check it out here.
I love to learn about unique approaches to growth, and one duo that continues to put out really compelling content is Claire Suellentrop and Georgiana Laudi from Forget the Funnell. A close contact of mine initially recommended that I check them out, and I was quickly drawn in by their Customer Led Growth playbook which provides a roadmap for growth by focusing on customer experience to drive revenue. If you are unfamiliar with them, I recommend checking out their resource section of their website here.
All Things Real Estate
Although these are not technically blogs, there are 4 websites that I go to every day to start my day. If there is something important going on in the real estate industry, you can bet that at least one of these sites will cover it in depth. If you want to stay updated on everything happening in the real estate industry, there are no better places to visit than the 4 sites below:
The list above is a subset of the leaders that I follow, but there are many incredibly talented writers and content creators that continue to influence and inspire me. I’m also always interested in learning about new newsletters, podcasts, and other content creators that share their unique perspectives on the industry, product/solution reviews, actionable advice & tips, and data driven analysis and trends. In the comments below, please share the newsletters and content creators that you find to be the most influential.